Costa signals desire to quit Chelsea and eyes Atletico

Diego Costa sees no point in trying to fight for a future at Chelsea if he is not wanted and has again not ruled out rejoining Atletico Madrid this summer despite their transfer embargo.

Costa claimed last week that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte had informed him in a text message that he was not part of the Italian’s plans going forward at Stamford Bridge.

That came at the end of a season when Costa scored 26 goals in 46 games for the Premier League champions, but which also featured persistent speculation about the Spain striker’s future – with a possible switch to China being widely mooted.

The 28-year-old has now ruled out any chance of moving to the far east as he does not want to jeopardise his World Cup hopes, but he also concedes that trying to stay and fight for a starting place at Chelsea – with whom he has a contract until 2019 – is a waste of time.

He told the Spanish media after scoring in Spain’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Macedonia: “Things don’t work like that. The fight for a place has to be fair. When there is a fair fight you stay and fight but if there isn’t then you have to go. Thanks to God, I’m not lacking teams to join.”

One of those options appears to be a return to Atletico, for whom Costa played before joining Chelsea in 2014 and a who remain close to the Brazilian-born striker’s heart.

Atletico recently lost an appeal against a Fifaimposed sanction which means that, while they can still buy players this summer, the Spanish outfit will not be able to register or play them until January.

But Costa does not see it as an insurmountable problem. He added: “I have a contract with Chelsea for two years. If they decide to sell me I will search for the best choice of team for me. Atletico are among those teams. Signing for Atletico wouldn’t mean not playing, I could go on loan to some team in Spain, in Italy, in Brazil, wherever I can continue playing.”